DEVELOPMENT (Biological)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 901 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
According to F. BAILLY, F. GAILL & R. MOSSERI, the development of biological systems is submitted to the four following specifications:
1. Endomorphism: “…autonomy of an entity whose developing rules are internal and given once for all (genetic endowment), correlated and organizational closured (in the autopoietic sense- MATURANA and VARELA)”
2. Discontinuity: corresponding to a “development by way of alterning of activity and latency, critical periods and punctuated sequences”
3. Recursivity: “corresponding to a principle of informative economy by the application of only one formal law, reiterated at every step of the development”
4. Nonlinearity: “corresponding to the process of growing complexification paired with iteration…(a linear iteration would be merely additive and could not explain progressive, structural and functional complexification” (1991, p.58).
An example of linear iteration is crystal growth.
It would be interesting to consider the validity of these specifications:
a) for the general problem of evolution (crf. GOULD-ELDREDGE's punctuated evolution).
b) in the case of more or less integrated social systems, such as ant nests, beehives, enterprises, human societies.